Chapter 319: You're Toxic Today

Xiao Hu, pull up the net.

Okay.

Xiao Hu walked to the back and said to the two beauties,

"Two sisters-in-law, please sit back a bit; I'm about to pull up the net, and if I get you dirty, my brother will beat me."

Two sisters-in-law?

Ye Cheng hearing this practically wanted to strangle Xiao Hu; this guy is afraid he won't die fast enough.

However, the two reacted fine, didn't argue with Xiao Hu, each stepped back a bit, letting Xiao Hu start reeling in the net.

The net slowly surfaced, the rope had no tension, Ye Cheng saw this haul was for nothing.

Pulling it to the middle of the deck, Xiao Hu untied the rope, and the catch splashed all over the deck.

"Wow, what is that, such an ugly fish." Xiao Rou exclaimed, pointing at a big one inside.

"This is a stonefish, it's poisonous, be careful, if you get poisoned you'll have to go to the hospital." Yang Liu reminded coldly.

Such an ugly fish, there's really nothing to say about it, it's just this stonefish.

Stonefish, also called ghost centipede, sea scorpion, goby, and stonefish head, has an uneven, unsightly head, extremely ugly, black, with many spiny ridges, the kind you can't forget after seeing.

The stonefish's body is brownish-red, irregularly blotched with black, red, and white spots, and its sides have three broad brown horizontal stripes.

Its shape resembles an elongated water droplet, with reddish-brown, yellowish-brown, and various other colored tumor-like warts interwoven across its body, making it look like a stone covered in seaweed, hence also called stonefish.

The stonefish bears the 'poison' in its name—it is a poisonous fish, and its toxin is potent.

Beneath its head spines lie venom glands; contact with human skin causes immediate redness and swelling, along with intense numbness and pain; those with heart disease, high blood pressure, cerebrovascular disease, or kidney/liver ailments may faint from the pain, and severe cases can be life‑threatening.

So Yang Liu's warning to Xiao Rou that this is a poisonous fish is completely correct.

Hearing it was poisonous, Xiao Rou hastily shrank to the side, afraid to touch it, while Da Huang pulled its head into its shell, mirroring Xiao Rou's move.

Although the stonefish is poisonous,

Although the stonefish is ugly and poisonous, its flesh is firm and delicious, earning it the nickname 'sea pufferfish,' so it sells well at over a hundred yuan per catty.

This specimen is quite large, about 40 centimeters long, estimated at seven or eight catties; though it doesn't fetch the price of a mouse grouper, it's still a decent catch.

To handle this fish, Xiao Hu didn't dare be careless; he fetched a pair of thick rubber gloves, placed it in the water tank, and then carefully covered it.

"Phew, that scared me." Xiao Rou patted her chest.

"The sea has all sorts of things; it's fine, we just happened to catch a poisonous fish today, normally there aren't any." Ye Cheng comforted her, then picked out some small shrimp for her to feed Da Huang.

Besides this stonefish, the rest of the haul were just octopuses and such, nothing worthwhile.

Ye Cheng and Xiao Hu quickly sorted through it and that was that.

The remaining small sea snails and shells that were originally meant to be thrown out, Yang Liu picked a few for research, while Xiao Rou kept a few nice-looking ones.

Da Huang lay contentedly on the deck, eating the small shrimp Xiao Rou fed it, feeling very pleased.

After finishing the first net, Ye Cheng began pulling the second.

Yang Liu stood up, looked around, then said,

"Ye Cheng, I see other boats fishing around here; are you sure there are white dolphins? No one's ever seen them."

Ye Cheng looked helplessly at Yang Liu, "I went up to scoop it up, how would I know? Be patient, we locals see them often too—it's just luck."

Yang Liu felt a bit disappointed and sat back down, but Ye Cheng couldn't do anything about it.

The second net was also dragged for an hour, but when hauled up it still only had a third of the net; this time Xiao Rou deliberately stayed back a bit, fearing another stonefish.

"Xiao Rou, what are you doing? I already said the poisonous ones are just a few; it's impossible to catch another." Ye Cheng was speechless.

"No, just in case." Xiao Rou didn't care, hugged Da Huang, and stepped back several paces.

"You take a look; there aren't any ugly fish in here, Xiao Hu, open the net."

Xiao Hu untied the rope, and the catch in the net splashed all over the ground.

Yang Liu glanced twice, then looked at Ye Cheng with interest,

"Ye Cheng, you're the poison king."

Hearing Yang Liu say that, Xiao Rou instantly became interested,

"What? What? Another poisonous fish?"

Ye Cheng was speechless; indeed there was a poisonous fish, but this time it wasn't a stonefish, it was a lionfish.

Lionfish, scientific name Pterois, its most striking feature is that the entire body is covered by broad fin rays, resembling a straw raincoat.

Moreover, when the broad pectoral fins of the Pterois spread out, they look as mighty as a male lion, hence the common name lionfish.

The beautiful fin rays contain deadly venom; a sting causes unbearable pain for the mild, loss of consciousness for the severe, and if untreated can be life‑threatening, so it truly lives up to being a poisonous fish.

However, because it looks good, it's often kept as an ornamental fish; Ye Cheng doesn't know how to grade ornamental fish, but if sold for meat it fetches only twenty or thirty yuan per catty.

After catching poisonous fish in two consecutive nets, Ye Cheng was speechless; throwing them away would be a waste, so he could only carefully place them in the water tank to keep them alive.

"Wow, Ye Cheng, these fish are really pretty—look, this one is black and white, that one is brown, and this one has such long whiskers!" Xiao Rou exclaimed like a curious Baobao.

"Have your brother buy it back to put in the restaurant lobby; it'll surely be festive." Ye Cheng said offhand.

"Makes sense, then do it—let my brother buy it! If my dad dares to object, I'll make him go a month without alcohol." Xiao Rou fiercely raised her little fist.

Yang Liu gave Xiao Rou a meaningful look; hearing her tone, her family's circumstances seem decent, though I don't know exactly what they do.

After the two nets, it was lunchtime; Ye Cheng found a spot with calmer waves, stopped, and brought out the food.

"Ladies, the boat's conditions are rather simple; you eat first, I'll stir‑fry some sea shrimp in oil."

"Wow, you're going to cook? Then I'll wait until you're done to eat." Xiao Rou, who had just picked up her chopsticks, quickly put them down, looking eager.

Yang Liu watched Xiao Rou like that and asked curiously, "Does Ye Cheng cook well? I've never seen him do it before."

"Indeed, he once made grilled fish and crayfish, which were delicious, and also..."

Speaking in general, Xiao Rou suddenly realized she was talking to Yang Liu, and she stopped short—"Tch, not talking to the enemy is my principle."